Justice Minister refuses to halt ‘inhumane’ deportations

THE Department of Justice has rejected calls from the Irish Refugee Council for a halt to all deportations in the wake of evidence it claims to have that African nationals were mistreated during deportation from the country on a charter flight.

The council wrote to the Justice Minister concerning the attempted deportation of 34 Nigerian nationals, including 12 children and one child with Irish citizenship on December 15.

The council said many of the Nigerians had lived in Ireland for several years and had been through the asylum process.

It said a number were taken from home in the early hours of the morning with little or no opportunity to properly dress or take personal belongings with them.

“In at least one case, children were taken out of school,” it said.

“They were kept in a holding area at Dublin Airport for many hours until they were put on a flight to Greece.”

The Refugee Council claims they were then placed on a charter flight along with about 100 other Nigerian nationals coming from other EU countries.

“Although some form of refreshment was provided on the flight, on occasions when people were allowed to use the toilet, they were not allowed to close the door, even women who were on their menstrual period at the time,” it said. “Children were subsequently forced to use bottles to urinate [into] resulting in one five year old wetting himself and being forced to remain in wet clothes.”

The plane experienced technical difficulties in Greece and the refugees who had come from here were returned to Dublin.

The council claims it has testimonies from those on the flight, which include “the handcuffing and possible sedation of a mother of two young children”.

Calling for a halt to all deportations pending review, Sue Conlan, the council’s chief executive, said: “The Minister for Justice has a duty to ensure that the basic human rights of each individual are upheld throughout the deportation process.

“From the information available to us, it appears that the group were subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment. We want to see this inquiry to lead to a review of deportation practice and procedures.”

However, a spokesman for the Department of Justice said that while it was unfortunate there had been a technical hitch with the flight, the Government was not going to change its procedures on the removal of people who are unlawfully in the state.